Build on the past
While Martino wanted to lead Maaco without deviating from
the basic principles his father laid down, he says it would also
have been a mistake to simply lead as though he is a carbon
copy of his dad.
Every leader is unique, and though you
might want to honor those who came
before you, ultimately, you will put your
own stamp on your company. If nothing
else, changes in how business is conducted will force your hand.
In Martino’s case, he saw some definite
ways he could take what his father had
done and improve upon it, particularly in
the area of technology.
“There is no doubt that my father was
to be admired, but he did come from a
different generation, born during the
Depression and brought up in that era,”
Martino says. “He had different perspectives on life and work than those of us
born in the ’50s and ’60s. There are many
things that can be done with Maaco to
further it in the contemporary world of
auto collision and body repair.
“My father was a techno junkie, he had
every gizmo known to man, but he didn’t
necessarily think successful businesses
were predicated on the growth of technology, as you could well imagine for
someone born in the ’30s.”
Martino says enhancing the computer
network that connects the approximately
500 Maaco franchises with each other
and corporate headquarters is among
the most important issues the company
is addressing moving forward.
“My father was right in that you aren’t
going to build a successful business just
because you have good technology,” he
says. “But technology is an enhancement
to training and fostering business at the
field level, along with improved materials and more sophisticated techniques.
It’s always a challenge to get people to
change and see the opportunities that
are emerging for us.”
Martino says his father also emphasized the importance of surrounding
yourself with experienced leaders. At
the time of his death, Tony Martino had
assembled a leadership team with nearly
200 combined years of experience in the
auto body industry. As a company
grows, one person can’t lead it alone. It’s
something Martino says his father
learned over the years and a lesson he
taught repeatedly.
“When my father started Maaco, he
was 39 years old,” Martino says. “He was
a young man with a lot of energy when
he started the first Maaco centers. I was
with him when he started the pilot operation in Wilmington, Del., and the first franchises in Tucson, Ariz., and
Albuquerque, N.M. He was very involved
in every aspect of the business.
“He was right there were the rubber
meets the road for the first 20 years or
so, and then as the company matured,
more people were hired, and many people took on that role. The quality of the
senior management and the character
they had due to being mentored by my
father for these last 10, 20 and 30 years,
I can’t say it has been easy [to continue
on without my father], but because of
our senior management, it hasn’t been
insurmountable to continue on with the
business.”